As I discussed in an earlier post, Gilead (USA) was going to undertake a unique dual CT on the drug remdesivir to determine its efficacy in treating not only moderately infected patients but severely infected with COVID-19 (SARS-cov-2 Wuhan). I felt this CT was a long shot because 1) it would take place in Wuhan, China and 2) the severely infected arm of the CT would deal with a group of patients whose mortality was extremely high and time span of survival was relatively short as in days not weeks. IMO, treating this severely ill cohort is a totally different game which many simply don’t understand or want to understand in their rush to find a silver bullet to this pandemic.
Gilead's CEO reported over the weekend that Beijing had shut down the arm that was studying patients in 'severe' conditions. The study was allegedly stopped or shuttered by the Chinese government because there weren't enough patients who qualified and would participate (given Wuhan was the original epicenter this position seems rather contrived).
Part of the problem was possibly due to the “moderately” ill arm being reported in preliminary form without conclusive evidence that the drug was actually successful. Apparently, it received far more scrutiny than Gilead thought it would in their rush to publish. As a result, questions were raised about the drug's true efficacy even with moderately infected patients.
Whether the full data on both arms will be released (actually published unlike many “observational” commentaries and videos about other treatments) is another question as China remains in control of what will be released and what will not be released.
Unfortunately, I suspect this CT will never be completed or actually published with full details. Why Gilead didn’t work with the Italian government (or possibly Britain of the USA) to possibly avoid this problem is another question that remains a mystery. Politics is frequently part of the game in many of these controversial or high profile CTs. It happens more times than not.
Sharon
